I put the o-ring on the water pipe and lubed it with some anti-freeze before putting the water pump on.

yeah that's exactly what my haynes says, it says for NT to put it in the pump but not for turbo.. I'm tempted to put it on the waterpipe.. I just already have the o-ring RTVed into the pump... hmm.. I only used a microscopic amount so I'm sure I could take it back out with no problems... I wonder why vfaq says that? I'll wait for someone who has maybe done it the vfaq way to chime in.. but I want to go put it back together soon.

On a 4G63 it o-ring fits around the water pipe not in the pump. You'll notice that the water pipe has a place for it on the end. Make sure to lube it with water or anti-freeze before pushing the water pump on. If the end of the pipe is scaled or corroded up I would clean it before putting the o-ring on.

Steve

I would do as steve mentioned.
Use a wire wheel on a dremel and that will remove the scale and polish the oring seating area.
I've put the oring on the water pipe and lightly lube it with some coolant and then slipped the water pump onto the oring.

When I did my waterpump, I put a light coat of rtv on the wp gasket and pressed it onto the wp and left that over night, but I've never heard of rtving the oring into the pump before installing the wp.

I used alittle vasoline on the o-ring and its been holding up fine. Def don't put it in dry. . .a friend did that and it leaked right away

I aways use a little motion lotion ( wheel bearning greese) on the O rings and I never let them sit over night, ( gotta get the cars back to the custmers real fast) just take a wire bursh or sandpaper to the watertube first, lube the Oring , slide it ont he pipe then slide the water pump on

yeah I dunno why vfaq said that, I could tell right away is wasn't going to work properly.. this is what is says in the 2g turbo timing belt faq

"# If your engine has high mileage, it is a GOOD idea to replace the waterpump, timing belt tensioner, tensioner pulley, idler pulley (27 ft-lb), and balancer belt tensioner pulley while doing the belts. This is the time to do it - remove the tensioner, and you can swap in the new water pump. It is suggested you silicone the gasket to the pump the day before with a very light coating of silicone, just enough to hold the gasket on (so thin you can easily see through it)."

anyway I didn't do that.. I didn't feel like waiting so I figured my gut and haynes beats vfaq so I took the O-ring out, cleaned it, and put it on the water pipe all lubed up.. the water pipe didn't need any cleaning, I used some 000 steal wool on it anyway but it was mint, I was very happy with what I found taking off the pump, the old one (after 95 000km or just under 60 000miles) was mint, no corrosion at all, nor in the pipe or inside the passages on the block, still spins like the new oem one too.. I didn't even need to do it.. but it's better done than not.. and the coolent, it came out like new aswell.. bright green.. taking 6 months to find the right car definitly pays off

the only thing I'm weary about is that there was some oil leaking on the t-belt, and a bit of oil slung around under the timing cover, I replaced the cam seals, crank seal, bs seal and oil pump seal, but none appear to be leaking.. where else could oil leake from? I removed the tensioner pully arm to remove the hidden water pump bolt and there was a decent amount of oil on the shaft it rotates on, I imagine this is normal but where does it come from? it looks like the leak could be coming around there, I'm just not sure.. it appears that the the leak is coming from around the head gasket.. yikes.. but that doesn't make much sense? the waterpipe.. not the part the pump came off but the exposed part was covered in oily dirt.. I think possibly the oil leaked from the valve cover the the passenger side of the engine down the pipe and down the pump into the timing area, possible? I just don't want to put everythign back and not fix my leak.. the valve cover seal was leaking and is being replaced aswell.

Unless you know that the o-ring material is oil safe it's not a goor idea to use oil, grease, vasoline, etc on the o-ring as it can cause it to break down over time. RTV on the o-ring is also a bad idea. They work best when they are free to move under pressure and as the coupling expands and contracts.

Steve

I tried using coolant and the o-ring broke on me. I now use a light coat of rtv on the inner and outer part of the o-ring. Not trying to contradict steve or anything, just saying what worked for me.I also did not wait 24hrs to let the sylicone dry, I just let it get tacky while I cleaned the surface on the water pipe and water pump mating surface. Mitsu Tech manual says to only tourqe the water pump bolt 9-10 ft-lbts for the short bolts. 27-30 ft-lbs for the long WP/ alternator bracket bolt. That aint shit,I tourqed them just a little more because I didn't feel safe with that little bit of tightness on those bolts. It's been fine so far.

I know this is fairly old, but I didn't want to start a new thread up with a similar problem. I just got my car running again today and after a test drive my o-ring leaked when I removed the fill cap. I am going to order another one, but because I'm up at school I can't work on my car for another week.

Can you just pry off the water pipe and replace the o-ring or would I have to remove my turbo/manifold/exhaust. The reason I ask is because where the water pipe connects to the turbo is stripped like crazy and there is no way I can get it off with the manifold on. Any ideas?